Trifles
by mypiratecat1
Summary: ONE SHOT.  PostAWE.  COMPLETE.  Elizabeth feels sadness and some guilt as she, William and Jack plan to search for the Fountain of Youth. I'M SORRY THAT I KEEP REPUBLISHING THIS... TOO MANY TYPOS THAT I CORRECTED! SHOULD BE FINE NOW, MATES!


_**Disclaimer: **__They belong to the Mouse. Thank you, Mickey, for sharing them!_

_**Author's note: **__As in all of my fics, Will Turner is free of his curse and is the former captain of the Flying Dutchman, thanks to Jack; Will and Elizabeth are crewmembers of the Black Pearl, which Jack enjoys immensely... and so do I! Pirate Cat _

۞

The mighty Black Pearl was anchored off of the coast of the Florida Territory on this warm summer evening, and the sky was overcast and threatening to rain. The day had been a good one at sea, but it had taken longer than usual to find a safe place to drop anchor and still be able to keep an eye upon the surrounding waters to watch for intruders, and darkness had started to color the edges of the sky as the Pearl finally came to rest about a half mile off of the sandy coast. The air was heavy with humidity, and there was a bit of low thunder in the distance. It seemed to match Elizabeth Turner's somber mood... she had awakened upon this morning without her usual smile, even for her beloved husband, who was somewhat concerned about her. It was not like her... there was something upon her mind.

Lanterns had been lit upon the ship, and Captain Jack Sparrow had tossed his beaded dark dreadlocks over his shoulders, and was perusing the chart that was spread out upon the top of the table that was customarily used for gambling upon the main deck whilst the ship was moored. It was not attached to the deckboards and was customarily stowed when not in use, so it was the first item to be dragged out once the Pearl slid gracefully into stillness and the anchor dropped into the deep.

The captain's eyes were sparkling with excitement, as his first mate, William Turner the Second, was slowly turning the sliding circles that made up this most special of sea charts... it was quite valuable, and they kept it under lock and key. It was a part of the chart that helped the Turners and their friends to find and rescue Captain Jack Sparrow, to bring him back among the living after he had been taken from them by the fearful Kraken.

As they kept turning the chart and consulting Jack's equally valuable compass, talking among themselves and smiling, Elizabeth's eyes watched them with almost a sad expression. She had fed wee baby Will, and had put him to bed in their snug cabin, and had returned to stand quietly by the table, watching the words form as her two men turned the circles..."Over the Edge, Over Again"..."Up is down"..."Flash of Green"... and their current treasure hunt, "Aqua de Vida". Her mind went back over the events of the last two years... and as Jack's and William's eager eyes met over the chart, she finally spoke up, very bluntly.

"Jack... when was it that you stopped hating me?"

The captain blinked hard at William, as if he was the one to ask the question, then swiveled his dark face around to stare at Elizabeth. William stood up straight and regarded his wife in puzzlement. Seeing the look in her eyes, he slowly put an arm around her and searched her face as she blinked back tears. William finally looked at his best friend, and said, "Today would have been our wedding anniversary if Cutler Beckett had not come to Port Royal when he did..." turning to his wife and the mother of his son, he smiled softly and said, "I think that you have had a lot of very bad memories coming back to haunt you upon this day, haven't you?"

Jack screwed up his face and straightened up to his normal slouching stance, elbows bent and hands in midair. Elizabeth looked back down at the chart with great sadness, and looked straight into Jack's brown eyes, glowing in the darkness.

"You have every right to hate me for what I did to you, Jack... and you were not happy with me when we first found you... in the Locker...but somewhere during our voyage back, you changed... when did you stop hating me? Things could have been so different, so awful... Jack... when did you stop..." Her voice faltered, as the Locker was a subject that was not discussed at length with the captain. He has not emerged from the Other Side as the same man... Jack was changed, and some would kindly say that his mind had been damaged... most would simply say that he was pleasantly mad. The Locker was not discussed between the three of them very often.

Regarding the young couple before him, Jack struggled to understand why the evening had taken such a turn. He looked back down at the chart, and finally saw what she had been seeing... he smiled a bit, and thought it over for a moment.

"Sit down, you two..." he said, pouring more rum into the three mugs that had been sitting next to the lantern upon the table. The darkness enveloped them all around, as Jack leaned into the lantern light to pick up the mugs and hand them to his companions. The Turners took them, seeing that Jack was in the mood to speak his heart... he pulled a chair up directly across from William and Elizabeth, and grinned at them, running a hand over his braided chin.

"Alright, listen up. I was th' pirate, first, savvy?" he smiled, gold teeth glittering in the lamplight, "...ye turned pirate after me, both o' ye. An' ye crept into me weasely black heart in a most piratey fashion early on..." his eyes momentarily looked out to the night time Atlantic.

His face softened as he looked back at them. "How could I hate you, Izzy? I was not happy wif ye... no..." Jack raised both forefingers for emphasis, "... no... I was downright _furious_ wif ye for bein' a better pirate than meself at that given time o' me demise..." he finally looked both of his young friends in the eye and said, "... but I _never_ hated ye, luv..."

"Granted," the captain continued, after they all took a quiet sip of rum, "...ye both came t' find me in th' Locker for different reasons, an' I'm good wif it, now, but I really took notice o' things when we were on th' Pearl, together, an' it was as dark as it is, now..." he looked into Elizabeth's eyes, and took her hands in his, "... We were going one way, as th' souls came floatin' by. We were goin' one way, toward life. They were goin' th' other way..." the captain's elegant hand waved out to sea.

"... Luv, how could I hate ye, when I saw your father? How could I watch the total anguish that both o' ye went through at that very moment, an' feel angry wif ye? Your father was gone... an' I was not. I was dead, yet I was able t' be saved by ye..."

William embraced Elizabeth to him, as her eyes brimmed. Jack continued, as he squeezed Elizabeth's tiny hands within his slender, tanned ones. He said, comfortingly, "I could not hate either o' ye... not th' whelp an' his lass... both o' ye were only bein' what _I've_ been for nearly half o' me life... how can I argue wif that when Captain Jack Sparrow was th' one wot taught pirate ways t' ye? Little did I know that ye would both be so damned good at it!" The captain looked at his friends as though he thought that they had known this all along.

William spoke up, as Elizabeth leaned into his chest, as she gripped the captain's hands with her own, "Jack, that can work both ways. None of us hated each other... we were simply caught up in a very bad situation. One that we have gotten past... one that was all caused by others... we just reacted to it, and thankfully saved each other from it."

The Turners could not help but smile, as Jack spread his hands out grandly and said, "Well, there ye go! Let's drink t' us, then! If it was t' be yer wedding anni...anniv..." he struggled with the word, then growled, "... wot ever th' hell th' bloody word is, then Happy Wot-Ever-Th'-Hell-Th'-Bloody-Word-Is Day...but since ye _didn't_ get married then, never mind!" William and Elizabeth looked at him as Elizabeth wiped her eyes, and smiled at the captain's skewered logic.

Jack rubbed his hands together, eagerly, "Now! We have a fountain t' find if we plan t' partake in immortality so's we can drink rum for eternity." The captain stood up, drained his mug with an indelicate burp, and happily moved back over to the chart as if the conversation had never taken place.

As William kissed his wife comfortingly, Jack looked at them and smiled, "Izzy, stop beatin' yerself up, lass. Ye fed me t' th' Kraken, an' th' two o' ye came an' found me again... in th' grand scheme o' things, it's all trifles... all trifles, luv. I'm good wif it."

Elizabeth Turner smiled..."If you're 'good wif it', Jack, I shall try to be, too."... she slipped her arms tightly around both of them, and joined them in excitedly planning their new adventure.

Jack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, as he muttered with a wicked wink, "... I'm good wif it as long as ye don't do it any of it again, savvy?"

William laughed, as Jack received a hard punch to his arm and a squeeze around his waist. He growled to William, "I try t' make 'er feel better, an' she hits me..."

"At least it wasn't a slap, Jack..." William smiled over the rim of his mug. "Now, where were we?"


End file.
